While the Arab world has long broken gender stereotypes as ASDA’A BCW’s Arab Youth Survey’s findings reveal, when it comes to women entrepreneurship, the disparity in opportunities is large.
The findings by WAMDA that only 25 percent of entrepreneurs in MENA are women and female founded startups drew just 1 percent of Middle East VC funding inspired Visa to launch their compelling campaign ‘She’s Next’ for the first time in the MENA region.
She’s Next is more than about empowering women entrepreneurs. It is a compelling platform that encourages the next generation of women to pursue their aspirations with mentoring and funding support – with over US$10,000 in capital grants.
ASDA’A BCW’s mandate was to maximise communications impact for this game-changing initiative by Visa, our long-term client.
What we did differently
Such a powerful campaign needed a curated strategy. Not only was the disparity in entrepreneurship opportunities to be highlighted, but the campaign also needed a strong narrative to create real impact.
We also needed the message to reach as many women entrepreneurs as possible across the region. In addition to deeply research press releases, we secured high profile interviews in tier 1 publications and a podcast to maximise reach. We developed thought leadership articles for placement across print and digital channels. We also partnered with Forbes Middle East to enhance reach – online and on social channels.
The final triumph? Bringing women entrepreneurs from across the region, operating in multiple sectors and presenting diverse perspectives, for an in-person event and a webinar.
And we made impact!
This was probably the first time MENA region’s women entrepreneurs came together to discuss disparities in opportunities. That gained the attention of media and stakeholder, with high-profile media coverage and social media impressions crossing nearly 5 million.
For Visa, She’s Next was a sterling campaign that positioned it as a company that leads by example in promoting diversity and inclusion, and championing small and medium-sized enterprises by women.
